


Cherry

by KayleighAnn



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Recovery, Slow Build, Slow To Update, hot angry barn sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 05:01:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16234724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayleighAnn/pseuds/KayleighAnn
Summary: A story about Shane. There's going to be some fluff and smut.





	Cherry

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is just setting up for the rest of the story. Contains some game spoilers, if you have not romanced Shane. Writing mostly from Shane's perspective, there will be a note at the beginning of a chapter if the perspective changes. This is not a finished work, I will be updating after each chapter is proofread!

Shane’s fingers twitched and tapped at his knee. His anxiety was starting to rise, he tried to squash the feelings down but they continued to bubble up in his stomach. He was sitting in the back of the bus, leaving Pelican Town for Zuzu City. Normally he only made his way into the city for his weekly therapy session, but today was for something far more emotionally exhausting.

He gulped and mumbled something about “Pre-game nerves” to no one in particular. It was one of the first games of the season, and half the town had turned out to watch the big matchup between the Zuzu City Tunnelers and the Grampleton Loggers. He had even set aside money to invite the farmer that lived north of Marnie’s Ranch. The past few seasons the girl had been bothering him constantly, asking him about his day and buying him drinks at the pub.

Up until recently, he had begrudgingly accepted the beer from her, offering her little more than a brief thank you in return before closing himself back off to the world. She was persistent. The first gift was a surprise, though he tried to mask it. Once he realized she was bringing everyone jars of homemade mayonnaise as a gift, the need to reciprocate her gifts fell off. He wasn’t special to her, just another person in town.

Or was he?

Shane shook his head, trying to drown out his intrusive thoughts with the sound of everyone else talking around him. The girl that flooded his thoughts was up at the front of the bus, coaching Pam since the old bag and her rusty bus had been out of commission for awhile. Pam was visibly sweating as they entered the tunnel that would allow them to leave the valley for awhile. Seeing her nervous should have made him nervous, instead he wondered if they might careen into a ditch and explode in a giant ball of fire. That might be better, instead of sitting in the back, alone and feeling anxious.

Well, that’s another thought to bring up in therapy later.

A warm hand met his in the darkness, and he sat up sharply. There was some light coming in from the lights in the tunnel, but most of them were burnt out or flickering. It was dim, but as his eyes adjusted from the abrupt change he could make out the shape of the girl he was admiring. She sat next to him on the double wide seat that suddenly felt smaller than it should. Instinctively he pulled away to give her space, but she only moved closer to him.

It was too dark in the tunnel, Gus was saying something about a flashlight but Shane could barely understand. Everyone’s voices seemed so far away, and the walls were closing in around him. It was becoming difficult to breath, as if all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the bus and the tunnel they were traveling through. Suddenly he was hot, way too hot. He unzipped his hoodie and found an old pamphlet to fan himself with. Just as he thought he felt tears coming on, he could see sunlight as they came around a curve.

What had felt like an eternity had only been a brief few minutes, and Shane started to calm down as the anxiety passed. He was trying to suppress his shaking, and hoped that she didn’t notice. It was difficult for him to understand why she had decided to sit so close to him, after everything that had happened since she had moved to the valley.

He hadn’t paid attention when she moved in, Marnie had said something about the granddaughter of the old man coming to take over the farm. There was some gossip around the pub for a few weeks before and after her arrival, Shane was usually already too buzzed to really listen. It wasn’t really relevant to him at the time, though three seasons in now he felt an attachment to her.

The girl had spent every day in the sun, working hard on the old farm. She visited him at JojaMart yet never spent a dime in that store, not even for a wall lamp her friend Sam had been wanting on his birthday. She came to the ranch to buy her first chickens, then her cows and sheep too. She drank with him at the lake one night, they sat at the end of the dock in the late spring and dangled their feet into the water. He had been rambling on about something stupid, yet she stayed with him until he decided to stumble home by himself.

They got closer to the stadium, well within city limits now. Tall buildings loomed over him, making him feel small. As the bus pulled into the parking lot he began to feel a strange combination of fear and excitement. This beautiful girl was smiling at him, pulling at his hand and leading him off the bus and toward the ticket gate. She had laced her fingers with his, and it was making his stomach flip in a way that he wasn’t familiar with.

He didn’t hate it.

The group went through, with the two of them trailing behind. Shane realized she was saying his name and he had been spacing out.

“S-sorry, what was that?”

“I’m going to get some snacks, do you want to go get our seats?” She was looking up at him, her eyes were so bright and beautiful, he almost couldn’t stand it.

“Oh, sure. See you in a minute.”

He watched her as she made her way to the concessions stand, then made his way down the stairs to their seats. He had intentionally purchased their tickets to be slightly separated from the rest of their group. Gus was a few rows behind them, everyone else was a few sections away. Shane was now internally beating himself up over it, it was going to be awkward to explain to her why they were sitting alone.

It was cold out, being the middle of autumn, but he really wished he had a beer.  
Of course, he had given up drinking a few weeks before. He had been descending into alcoholism for awhile, but it had really peaked that summer. Marnie had expressed her disdain for his drinking many times, but never did anything about it as long as he kept going to work and paying his rent. It had become difficult to look Jas in the eye, when he could barely focus due to already having so much to drink on a weekend. How could he explain to a little girl, that his life wasn’t worth living any more?

He’d been looking for a way out, but was too scared to go through with it. Endless nights sitting on the cliffs, drinking and wondering if the fall would be enough to kill him. Waking up, hungover, to face another day at JojaMart. Trudging to the bar, through wind, rain and snow, to drink alone in a corner until he was blackout drunk and able to sleep and start the cycle again.

This girl, she wasn’t his savior, but her injecting herself into his life at any opportunity did help him break the cycle. Another night at the cliffs, she found him, and stayed with him. Shane could barely remember that night, he woke up in the hospital hooked up to an IV and with an empty stomach. Harvey had brought him plain toast and milk, and given him the contact information of a therapist in the city. He only put off calling for a few days, and started making the weekly trip to get the help he needed.

“Hey, they had coffee but I wasn’t sure how you took it, so I stole double handfuls just in case.”

A pile of cream and sugar packets were dumped on his lap, as the girl sat down next to him a tray of food and coffee.

He stared at the pile, and laughed. “Not quite that much of a sweet tooth, are you sure this isn’t all for you?”

She began grabbing packets from his lap, the contact between them making him blush. He turned so she wouldn’t see it as she started talking to him. It was a little hard to focus at first, soon he found he was hanging on to every word. She trailed off when the game started, cheering loudly for their team. He was grateful that she was a fan, it would have been so much more awkward if she didn’t like Gridball.

As the game went on, Shane’s intrusive thoughts took a backseat and his excitement for his team only grew. A sense of joy that hadn’t been felt in a long time was creeping in, and his friend seemed just as happy as he was.

His friend.

Not just a farmer, not just a girl, she was his friend. Maybe his only friend at this point, but when the realization that he had A FRIEND struck him was more than enough for him. He turned to her, with her cheeks pink from the brisk wind and the adrenaline coursing through her when their team scored.  
“Hey, I wanted to say something.” Panic began rising in his body, but he tried to calm himself before he continued speaking. “I… Never mentioned it, but thank you for sticking around.”

Her focus was now on him, he tried to pass off his shaking as a shiver from the cold.

“You know, through my depression, and anxiety, you uh… You stuck it out with me.”

She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I told you, I’m here whenever you need me. I’m glad you’re doing better.”

Her hand was so warm, he thought maybe he should pull away before she realized how clammy and shaky his own hand was. Instead he decided to use the small amount of courage he had and continued to talk to her.

“So uh, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a good thing our offense is so strong, because our defense is really slacking today.”

Shane laughed, and cheered at the next catch. She was putting him at ease, and he kept finding himself thinking of how wonderful it was to be close to her and know that he would remember it all tomorrow.

“I left this city because of the noise, you know. But, I had no idea how much noise chickens and cows made.” She sighed and looked around at the crowd. “I wouldn’t trade it back though, I’m so much happier in Pelican Town, being with you.”

He blushed, then jumped in surprise as the Tunnelers went on a full attack. “WOAH, look at them go!” He rushed forward and leaned on the railing, cheering on the team as they scored.

“GOAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!!” The crowd cheered, stomped their feet, and blew horns. Shane felt a wide grin stretch across his face, and he moved without thinking. His arms wrapped around his friend, he pulled her close, and stopped with his lips merely an inch from hers. Her face was tilted up, eyes wide with surprise. “Oh… Oh.” Pulling away quickly and taking a few steps back, he apologized profusely.

“Sorry, I think I had one too many. I got a little carried away there.” He looked embarrassed, and turned to the game with a deep blush returning to his cheeks.

“What, you didn’t want to kiss me?”

Shane opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again, unsure what to say.

She closed the gap between them, and pulled his face down to her level. Shane was unbelievably warm, red in the face. Her hands were so soft, impossibly soft for someone who spent all her time on the farm or in the mines. His lips were chapped and rough, but she kissed him anyway. His mind went completely blank for a moment, before alarm bells and fireworks started going off. He felt a chill run down his entire body, his hands found her waist again and he pulled her against him.

“Wow… Good game, huh?” Shane muttered into her hair as they sat back down, not quite wanting to let go yet.

“Yeah, I think our team won.” She leaned on his shoulder, and looked up at him. “Shane, do you want to come back to my place after this?”

He didn’t respond, but she could tell from the way he squeezed her hand he wanted to say yes.


End file.
